James Alderson, head of Mulbury City, said: “We’re currently in positive discussions with an institutional investor for our PRS scheme at Port Street and work begins at that site next month.

“We’re very close to submitting a planning application for a site in Ancoats and several other site acquisitions are progressing well.

“We’re speaking to potential development partners on an almost daily basis. These are exciting times for us and for Manchester.”

Mulbury are the latest to launch out into the fast-growing Manchester PRS sector. Research by surveyors JLL suggests as many as 3,500 PRS units are under construction, with another 3,000 awaiting a start on site and another 5,000 at earlier stages in the development pipeline.

Some sources suggest the eventual total could be much larger with figures of 20,000 PRS units being mentioned.

Mulbury gained planning permission last September for its £30m PRS apartment scheme at Port Street on the edge of the Northern Quarter.